This year, UGA Miracle has the absolute honor to fundraise for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s new aquatic therapy pool. This pool will make Children’s the only pediatric hospital in the entire southeast! The pool is not possible without UGA Miracle. Our $1.3 million goal will go directly towards finishing the pool’s construction and get it up and running for the hundreds of kids who will visit the pool every month.

Any child being treated in Children’s extensive rehabilitation unit will be able to use the pool at their therapists’ behest. Aquatic therapy is especially beneficial to children who are being treated for traumatic injuries, musculoskeletal or neurological disabilities, or recovering from surgery. This zero-entry pool is wheelchair friendly and the floor can be slowly lowered without any awkward movements or pain and also features underwater cameras and a fun environment that prioritizes recovery while still allowing kids to have fun. Aquatic therapy benefits include: posture improvement, reduced pain that therapy on the ground may inflict, increased flexibility, better range of motion of the body, improved balance and coordination, and much more. All of these benefits that were previously out of reach for patients on land are now possible because of the pool!

Most children being treated at Children's spend extended periods of time in the hospital during and after their treatment. Even though Children’s provides an incredibly supportive and lively environment, at the end of the day, the children are still in a hospital being treated every single day. The pool provides kids with a new and exciting opportunity for treatment, and an escape from their rooms or every-day land therapy. Water is a more exciting and fun place to learn, and it naturally motivates the children to participate in therapy without it feeling like a chore. While being treated in the pool, children become more mobile and aware of their bodies, movements, and breathing. Difficult tasks that the children are not able to accomplish on land are now possible in the water, creating an amazing sense of accomplishment for patients who can excel through water therapy.

This pool is an incredible step towards creating healthier and happier kids at Children’s. It takes us to build the pool, and it takes us to create miracles at Children’s. In these next 24 days until Dance Marathon, we have to give everything we have in order to reach $1.3 million and help Children’s build the pool and provide an incredibly unique and beneficial experience to all of their rehab patients.